MANY CHANGES AHEAD FOR BENEFIT PROGRAMS

There have been changes in the Social Security earnings limit and the Medicare program. Let me review them so you'll have them handy for reference this year.

Depending upon your age, you can earn a certain amount of money and draw Social Security benefits. If you're 65 and older, for instance, you can earn $8,880 and still get your full benefits; if you're under age 65, you can earn $6,480. Once you reach that earnings limit, you'll lose $1 in benefits for every $2 earned above the limit.

If you decide to continue working after age 65 and delay drawing your benefit checks, you earn added retirement credits. Each year your retirement is delayed, you earn an increase of 3 percent in your benefit amount. This is one-quarter of 1 percent for each month. It's called a delayed retirement credit and is available for people 65 through 69.

Remember that when you reach the "magic" age of 70, you can earn as much as you want and still draw all your checks.

Social Security benefits were increased this year by 4 percent. The average benefit is $537 each month for an individual, $921 for a couple.

This year's tax rate, however, will remain the same: 7.51 percent each for employers and employees. An employee or employer will pay $3,379.50. If you are self-employed, you pay 15.02 percent, but get a 2 percent tax credit. The self-employed will pay $5,859.

The maximum amount of earnings on which Social Security taxes are paid this year is $48,000.

CHANGES IN MEDICARE

There have been a number of changes in the Medicare program, too.

First, there are new premium amounts. The Medicare medical insurance premium will increase to $31.90 -- $4 of which is for the new catastrophic protection.

Besides the change in the basic premium, a supplemental premium based on your income tax liablility is to be paid on federal income tax returns for 1989. You must pay the supplemental premium if you are entitled to or eligible for Medicare Part A, the hospital insurance, for more than six full months in the taxable year and your federal income tax liability for the year is $150 or more. The supplemental premium rate is $22.50 for each $150 of federal income tax liability for 1989. In other words, if you pay $150 in federal income taxes for 1989, your supplemental premium will be $22.50.

There is a limit on the amount you must pay each year, however. For 1989, the maximum supplemental premium is $800 for an individual. It's double for a married couple if both were eligible for Part A for more than six full months during the taxable year.

If you do not have the medical insurance, now is the time to sign up. You have until the end of March. There are late charges if you were eligible for this insurance but declined it.

This year the hospital deductible will be $560. The Catastrophic Act has limited the hospital deductible of $560 to one per year. Last year, beneficiaries had to pay the deductible of $540 each time they entered the hospital following an illness.

The Catastrophic Act also has eliminated all hospital co-insurance payments and provides Medicare coverage up to 365 days a year. What this means is that you pay the $560 single annual deductible and Medicare pays 100 percent of the approved charges for your care while you're in the hospital. This is a great savings for anyone who becomes ill.

Medicare will pay for a beneficiary's hospital care only if the following conditions are met:

-- A doctor must prescribe inpatient hospital care for treatment of your illness or injury.

-- You must require the kind of care that can only be provided in a hospital.

-- The hospital must be one that is participating in the Medicare program.